英语PK台 第745期:梵高从未去过日本,却做着一个日本梦

 Van Gogh Never Visited Japan, but He Saw It Everywhere

梵高从未去过日本，却做着一个日本梦

AMSTERDAM—In the soft, clear light of Provence, France, Vincent van Gogh saw the crisp skies of Japanese woodcut prints. The almond blossoms, gnarled trees and irises¹ that dotted the French landscape reminded him of nature scenes painted in Kyoto. And in the locals at Arles cafes, he saw resonances² with the geishas and Kabuki actors of a country he had never visited.

阿姆斯特丹——在法国普罗旺斯柔和清晰的阳光下，文森特·梵高(Vincent van Gogh)看到了日本木刻版画中的清澈天空。法国风光里的杏花、鸢尾花与盘根错节的树木让他联想起那些在京都绘制的自然风景。在阿尔咖啡馆的当地人身上，他看到日本艺妓与歌舞伎的影子，而那是一个他从未去过的国家。

"My dear brother, you know, I feel I'm in Japan," van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo, on March 16, 1888, not long after he had settled in Arles. "I'd like you to spend some time here, you'd feel it," he wrote. "After some time your vision changes, you see with a more Japanese eye, you feel color differently."

“亲爱的弟弟，你知道，我觉得自己好像在日本，”1888年3月16日，梵高在定居阿尔不久后写信给弟弟提奥(Theo)。“我希望你能在这里度过一段时间，你会感觉到的，”他写道。“一段时间后，你的视野会发生变化，你会更多地以日本人的方式去观看事物，以不同的方式去感知色彩。”

For at least a year, van Gogh, who was Dutch, lived in Provence in a kind of Japanese dream. It was not a delusion³, but rather an imaginative projection⁴ of an idealized vision of Japan onto the French landscape. The painter had been bitten by the bug⁵ of Japonisme, a mania⁶ for Japanese aesthetics⁷ that swept Europe in the 19th century, and which also afflicted⁸ painters such as Claude Monet, ?douard Manet and Edgar Degas.

在至少一年的时间里，荷兰人梵高在普罗旺斯做着他的日本梦。这不是妄想，而是把他心目中理想化的日本景观投射到法国风景当中去，非常有想象力。19世纪，对日本美学的狂热席卷欧洲，被称为“日本主义”，梵高也受到了冲击，这股风潮还感染了克劳德·莫奈(Claude Monet)，爱德华·马奈(?douard Manet )和埃德加·德加(Edgar Degas)等画家。

Even though van Gogh's art was not widely reproduced and accessible in Japan until decades later, the Japanese had also van Gogh visions, van Gogh dreams. Just as van Gogh imagined Japan as a country, they imagined him. It was a kind of two-way imaginary vision.

尽管梵高的艺术直到几十年后才开始在日本被广泛复制和观赏，但日本人也同样拥有梵高的视野与梵高的梦想。正如梵高想象日本这个国家，日本人也在想象梵高。这是一种双向的想象视野。

1 irises   

n.虹( iris的名词复数 )；虹膜；虹彩；鸢尾（花）

参考例句：

• The cottage gardens blaze with irises, lilies and peonies. 村舍花园万紫千红，鸢尾、百合花和牡丹竞相争艳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The irises were of flecked grey. 虹膜呈斑驳的灰色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 resonances   

n.共鸣( resonance的名词复数 )；（声音） 洪亮；（文章、乐曲等） 激发联想的力量；（情感）同感

参考例句：

• This system can set up acoustical resonances. 这种系统能产生共鸣。 来自辞典例句
• New supershortlived particles are called resonances. 新超短寿命粒子叫做共振态粒子。 来自辞典例句

3 delusion   

n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑

参考例句：

• He is under the delusion that he is Napoleon.他患了妄想症，认为自己是拿破仑。
• I was under the delusion that he intended to marry me.我误认为他要娶我。

4 projection   

n.发射，计划，突出部分

参考例句：

• Projection takes place with a minimum of awareness or conscious control.投射在最少的知觉或意识控制下发生。
• The projection of increases in number of house-holds is correct.对户数增加的推算是正确的。

5 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

6 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

7 aesthetics   

n.(尤指艺术方面之)美学，审美学

参考例句：

• Sometimes, of course, our markings may be simply a matter of aesthetics. 当然，有时我们的标点符号也许只是个审美的问题。 来自名作英译部分
• The field of aesthetics presents an especially difficult problem to the historian. 美学领域向历史学家提出了一个格外困难的问题。

8 afflicted   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
• A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。